Abandoned
by dragonridersrock
Summary: What happens to Daine after her mother dies.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any original people, places, animals, or ideas.

**Voices**

A girl tiredly walked along the narrow dirt path. She had been walking for a week without sleeping, and she was already half asleep. She looked behind her and sighed with relief. She sat down at the foot of a tree and tried to relax.

"_Don't worry, go to sleep."_ A voice in the back of her mind whispered.

Her eyes were closing, and the world was becoming hazy. She shook her head trying to fight off the approaching sleep.

"I can't sleep", she said out loud to herself. "I don't know if they're coming".

'_Why am I talking to myself?" _she thought. _'I must really be crazy, just like my village said.'_

Lost in these thoughts, and almost asleep, she didn't hear the approaching footsteps until it was too late.

'_Strange'_, as she saw the source of the sounds. _'Last time I checked, it was a mob, not one person who was chasing me.'_

As she studied the man, as well as she could when she was almost unconscious, she noticed something else that seemed strange. The tall man was wearing a long black cloak over black clothes. No one from her village ever wore black. Her last conscious thoughts were _'I woder if he'll kill me. Oh well, at least then I'll be with my mother.'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any original characters, places or ideas.

**Faces**

"_Why did you bring her here?"_ a female voice asked.

"_How could I not bring her? She was obviously running way from something, and she hadn't eaten or slept in over a week"_ answered a male voice angrily.

The girl woke up to the sound of hushed voices arguing softly. She opened her eyes and saw two faces looking at her from endless white.

'_Am I dead?'_ she wondered.

She blinked a few times to clear her head, and saw a tall man with black hair and dark eyes looking down at her. Next to him was a small woman with flaming red hair and shockingly purple eyes, she wore boys clothes and some armor.

'_Who are these people?'_ she thought.

She tried to sit up, but the woman gently pushed her down and said, "Don't sit up yet. You still need to rest."

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

The tall man answered her. "I am Numair Salmalin, a black-robed mage trained in the Academy, and this is Sir Alanna, The Lioness. Who are you?"

The girl opened and closed her mouth a few times before she managed "My name is Diane Sarasirri, sir"

The mage raised his eyebrows at her last name, but didn't say anything.

"Where are we?" Diane asked.

Alanna answered, "We're at the palace in Tortall." She saw the surprised look on Diane's face and laughed "It's ok. You're not in trouble, Numair found you on a road that leads right to the palace, and this was the closest place to find a healer for you."

"Alanna!" someone shouted from outside.

"Oh, I forgot! I have practice with Roald. Numair, are you coming?" Alanna asked.

"I'll be out in a moment, I need to talk with Diane for a moment."

Numair sat down on a chair she hadn't noticed before, and asked her "Why were you running away?"

Diane was startled. "How did you know I was running away?" she asked.

Numair raised his eyebrows "It was obvious."

Diane blushed and looked down. "I was running away from my village. They were chasing me."

"Why were they chasing you?"

"After my mother died, all the people she cared for turned on me. They accused me of whitchcraft and said I was crazy."

Numair was silent for a while. "Why did they call you crazy?" he asked.

Diane glared at him and said "if I wanted you to know, I would have told you!" she said furiously.

She didn't know who this mage thought he was, but he was prying into her life. She had told him too much already. If there was anything she wanted, Diane wanted the scene with her village never to happen again.

The mage looked at his hands and sighed. "I didn't mean to pry, but this is important. Just tell me, did they think you talked to animals?"

Diane was shocked. She looked at him speechlessly and said "Yes."

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I know, another cliffie...**

**a/n: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Tell me what you think!**

**(Sorry I made Numair sound stuck up. he won't be like that in upcoming chs., anyway, review (I already mentioned that, didn't I?)!)**


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